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There’s no time for additional questions because the bell above the door jingles and Dee Cushing appears with a clipboard in his meaty hands. I’ve seen pictures of him in my father’s old yearbook, back when they were on the football team together at Devil Valley High. He’s gained over a hundred pounds since those long ago days but his face remains perpetually cheerful. He brightens even more when he notices me.
“Camden! Good to see you. Tell your old man we miss him at our Friday night poker games.”
I smile because Dee is a nice man. “I know he misses the games too. He’s just been working too much and doesn’t have time.”
Dee’s cheerful look fades slightly. “And how is Adela?”
“She’s happy to be finished with her latest round of treatments.”
Dee nods but now his eyes are troubled and the smile he flashes is unconvincing. “That’s good news.”
“I hope so.” I’ve lowered my head and I’m extremely aware that Ben is listening to every word being said.
Dee tries to lift the mood by referencing old times. “When you were little you used to come by almost every Saturday. You’d plunk down your quarters and demand two cinnamon candy sticks. And whenever me or Diane tried to slip in some extra candy you’d shake your head and refuse. You never wanted something for nothing. Diane would always carry on about how you were the smartest little girl she ever saw.”
Diane Cushing is another lifelong citizen of Devil Valley. She and Dee have no children of their own and she often used to babysit for me in those long ago sad days after my mother died and before my dad met Adela.
“Hey!” A light bulb goes off in Dee’s head as he looks to me and then to Ben. “I forgot you and Ben go to school together at Black Mountain. You must be friends.”
Ben speaks up before I have a chance. “Not at all.”
“Oh.” Dee is surprised but quickly recovers and smiles at me once more. “So what are you doing out and about today, Camden?”
I don’t want to say this in front of Ben but I swallow my pride. Quite literally. I feel it slide down my throat in a jagged lump.
“I’ve actually been out job hunting but I haven’t had any luck. Do you know anyone who’s hiring?”
Dee doesn’t respond right away. In fact he scratches his nearly bald head and gazes down at his clipboard as if he’s deep in thought. Finally he nods and looks up.
“You know what? I’m going in for knee replacement surgery next week. Diane’s nephew will be helping her manage the place while I’m on the mend and Ben over here picks up the rest of the shifts but we could use some additional help for a while. Paperwork, inventory, that kind of thing. If you’re interested I can promise twenty hours a week for the next couple of months.”
Dee’s offer is extremely generous. While it might be true that the store could use a little extra help if he’s having surgery next week, I know that he’s doing me a favor in honor of his lifelong friendship with my father. And I’m in no position to turn down a favor.
“I would love the position. Thank you.”
Dee is pleased. “Wonderful. What do you think, Ben?”
Ben has grown bored with this conversation and returns to his place behind the counter. “You’re the boss.”
Dee wants me to start immediately since he’s here and can pull off a quick training session. The clipboard holds lists of the stockroom inventory and he jokes about how he’s the old school pen and paper type and will need to be dragged into the technology age kicking and screaming.
“Let’s go visit the stockroom real quick,” he says. “I’ll show you how to tell when the merchandise needs to be reordered.”
I’m already more familiar with the stockroom than I’d like to be but I’d rather forget about the near miss with the McGill brothers and the grudging gratitude I feel for Ben Beltran. Ben is now not just a schoolmate and fellow bus traveler but he’s also my coworker. The knowledge that I’ll be spending a ton of time in his company fills me with dread. And something else. Inside all those layers of feelings lurks a definite thrill. I don’t know what to make of Ben. Most of the time he goes out of his way to come off like an ill mannered jerk. And yet my gut tells me that he’s far more complicated than he seems.
Dee limps toward the back of the store and I follow him. He’s all business as he explains the long lists attached to his clipboard. I am paying attention but still a piece of my mind wanders. When Dee leaves me with the inventory list in order to go check the levels in the gas pumps, I quickly dive into my handbag in search of a small notebook that goes everywhere with me. It’s full of notes and thoughts and article ideas. I’ve just had a good one.
After I jot down a few short sentences I peer down the main aisle where Ben is talking to a couple of customers, a pair of girls wearing Devil Valley High jackets. They are young, probably Frankie’s age, but they giggle and flirt and I wonder how much additional business Dee’s store receives thanks to Ben’s extensive fan club.
He hands the girls their change and they giggle their way outside, as giddy as if they’ve just encountered a celebrity. Ben shrugs out of his vest and then hops right over the counter like it’s nothing. He stops short when he sees me standing in the doorway of the stockroom.
“Watch the front counter for a minute.”
“What am I supposed to do if someone walks in?”
“I guess you’ll have to use that enormous brain of yours to figure it out.”
“But where are you going?”
